Jim Wasserman of the Sacramento Bee wrote a story today about the free fall in rental rates in the Sacramento area.

Sacramento area apartment and housing rents, which have long been lower than in much of California, are getting even lower.

According to RealFacts, Average asking rents in large apartment communities all over the sacramento region have fallen for six straight months.

The phenomenon isn’t happening in all Sacramento area cities, but a RealFacts survey of 76,000 apartment units in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties, shows a second straight quarter of falling rents.

According to RealFacts, this years first-quarter apartment rents in the Sacramento area averaged $961, down from $966 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Rents are also falling across much of the United States, RealFacts data shows. Asking rents, on average, have fallen around 4 percent or more the past year in Miami, Orlando, Phoenix and Riverside-San Bernardino .

Nearly all the major metro areas of California, with the highest unemployment since 1941 – (they reported a 11.2 percent unemployment in March) have seen rents fall in large rental communities.

“There are a lot of people who have lost jobs here in California, and those who haven’t are apparently scared they will, so everyone is watching expenditures,” said Caroline Latham, chief executive officer of RealFacts.

Sacramento area’s March unemployment was 11.3 percent. It may pass the 12 percent mark, the Stockton-based University of the Pacific’s business forecaster has said.